Tadej Pogacar escapes boredom on stage 13 by switching to a 'water-guy': "Honestly it’s too hard"
CyclingFriday, 17 July 2026 at 23:00
Typically, you would find Tadej Pogacar towards the front of the pack, surrounded by his UAE Team Emirates - XRG teammates who take care of all his needs until the decisive moment comes for the Slovenian to strike. But on stage 13, he's taken on a slightly different role.
The Friday stage was a prologue to what awaits riders this weekend with two summit finishes in Le Markstein and on Plateau de Solaison. Despite its 205 kilometers of distance, most of the stage was kind to riders (parcours-wise) with only two ascents located in the final third of today's stage.
With GC favourites unlikely to waste their energy today, we saw a large breakaway battle and ultimately a 57-man group slipped away. As no imminent threat to Pogacar's yellow jersey was present at the front, the peloton lead by UAE Team Emirates - XRG enjoyed a moment of respite.
Pogacar grasped this opportunity to take a quick natural break 70 kilometers into the stage. And as he rode back to the front, he's been seen carrying a load of water bottles - not only for himself, but also for his teammates who were riding at the front.
"It’s too hard, to be honest," Pogacar said light-heartedly when the incident was raised in his yellow jersey press conference after stage 13. "It’s not really for me, especially when the group is in one line."
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"I just stopped for a natural break. I was at the car, and I took some extra bottles for the guys that were pulling," he explains how it came to his "new" role.
They deserve it for their hard work
Even though Pogacar usually doesn't take up the 'water guy' duties himself. But today he saw an opportunity to "give back" a little to his teammates by bringing the bottles to them.
"They do this all Tour for me. Every 10 minutes they go back for bottles, and today I was at the car, so I took some extra."
And how was his experience of the 'other side' of peloton? "It’s a hard job, don’t be fooled," he concluded.
Ondrej ZhasilCycling Journalist
Ondřej Zhasil is a cycling journalist at CyclingUpToDate and has been part of the team since 2023. He is based in Ostrava, the third-largest city in the Czech Republic, and covers professional cycling across the main UCI competitions, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España. A key focus of his work is startlist analysis and pre-race coverage, where he examines team selections, rider line-ups, and tactical scenarios ahead of major events.
Alongside WorldTour coverage, Ondřej has developed specific expertise in junior cycling and in racing across East Asia, including competitions in China and Japan. He also maintains a broad working knowledge of other disciplines and levels, including cyclocross, while continuing to expand his understanding of mountain bike racing.
Ondřej holds a bachelor’s degree in Mathematics and Physics, which supports his analytical, data-driven approach to performance and race analysis. In his reporting, he regularly uses ProCyclingStats for results, statistics, and historical context. He places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles promptly when new, verified information becomes available.
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- Seems you can fool a few people by omitting some letters, well done.Jumpyjohn18-07-2026
- For all the fun made of Movistar, well, as you’re asking, that’s exactly what they do during sprint stages SO, in the end, maybe they DO actually have a point?Jumpyjohn18-07-2026
- Total BS If there was no Pogi, you’d not know he could exist so you’d never be in this state of devotion and you’d have picked someone else to sell to us, like Primoz at the time. Why don’t you go over to tennis forums while you still can?Jumpyjohn18-07-2026
- Ah, so you’re admitting you’re not a cycling fan, just stalking someone because you feel they have some relation to you because they come from a place not too far (but not close either) from where you consider yourself to have some attachment?Jumpyjohn18-07-2026
- This isn't the first time he takes up the role of water guy for his mates.
KerisVroom17-07-2026 - That's class. LA would never in a million years have done something like that for his team.Crashjames17-07-2026
- Maybe they chase after Jorgenson to measure his temperature :-)Jumpyjohn17-07-2026
- What Pidcock is mediocre . Lol world champ multi discipline and he worked for the move up GC . Ob you you should stick to football as you know nothing about cycling and Pidcock was not gifted .paultryan200217-07-2026
- I think they are more fixated on each other and in view of the much harder stage tomorrow they considered it safer to stick around each other. Kind of unusual to see all the leaders as a bunch up as big a climb and no-one trying anything. Tomorrow will show if Pidcock had a plan or was just lucky, he didn’t spend that much more energy than the others for all the gains he gathered, conditions, wind and conditions were very favourable along the way.Jumpyjohn17-07-2026
- Same like most of us continue training (with slightly less effort) when we are not completely bed-ridden. You get through it and within a few days or a week you are often back to your old self. He will be needed in the next chapter. Once you quit you can’t come back or be replaced. Given the choice, you try to see if things improve.Jumpyjohn17-07-2026
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